WE3 Paperback – 25 Feb. 2014

This is a remarkable and very moving story. It's been described as 'Terminator' meets 'The Incredible Journey' but that is to miss much of the nuance and power of the book. In a very short span it presents, with the barest minimum of words, a complex arc from madness and perversion through to a tentative restoration of order and justice.The story is simplicity itself. Three lost pets have been converted into prototype superweapons. An ambitious senator - a very ambitious senator - likes the idea of animate superweapons, but doesn't like the fact that they can talk, so orders them destroyed. And they don't like that, so they escape from their base and go on an increasingly bloody rampage, fighting off every attempt by the military to stop them. The animals seek 'home' and, in an extremely moving moment, find it not as a place, but as a state of mind.But what's it about? Well, one could look at the surface and say that it's about how weapons / war / etc are bad. All fine and dandy, but most of the violence we see is committed by the 'heroes' against humans, so unless we have a double-standard, that doesn't wash. Or we could say that it's about the good old Frankenstein complex, which it might be at a superficial level, but I believe there is something deeper going on. Remember that the senator doesn't like the animals because they can talk. He wants the weapons to use animals, but in such a way that no-one can feel sympathy for them. Similarly, the idiotic general or colonel or whatever, who sends wave after wave of men to a horrible death, refuses to accept that the animals are more than just machines, and hence he underestimates them always. He even, at one point, complains of the horror of teaching a weapon to talk.And that is the key. We live in an age where combatants of all hues - military, terrorist, whatever - dehumanise their opponents and dehumanise their fighters. So we get 'collateral damage' instead of 'civilian casualties', and soldiers are viewed as pawns to be manipulated by commanders, rather than people who fight from an act of will. The senator's objection to talking animal superweapons is no different from the carefully sanitised view of conflict presented to us by its managers. Fighters and fighting are, as the book says, essentially amoral, but we can make them moral by the way we treat them. If we treat them as games, then we ourselves become immoral.

I'd seen the work of Scottish artist Vincent Deighan, penname Frank Quitely, before in the Sandman comic "Endless Nights", and I'd enjoyed legendary comic writer Grant Morrison's work in "Arkham Asylum".So when I heard about their miniseries "We3", a short story about three 'animal weapons' that escape captivity, I went straight out and bought it. Robot animals!If you're an animal lover, We3 is heartbreakingly powerful. It's also gorgeous - hyper-violent and bloody, yes, but the art is colourful and the detail in the mech (robot) designs is amazing. It's often described as a 'Western Manga' style, but any influence is slight - the art is still recognizable as comic-styled and the realism of the animals really helps to carry the story.The panel layouts are fantastic - an opening scene is told through rows of tiny squares representing CCTV stills, panels twist and bend to fit the motion of the action, and huge graphic scenes are overlaid with smaller panels showing the details of the fight.The 3 animal main characters - a rabbit, cat and dog all modified to become powerful animal weapons - speak very little, but still manage to be sympathetic and realistic characters. They act like you would expect your pets to act, searching for shelter and safety, which makes the moments when they're forced to fight or injured in battle all the more difficult to see.It's a short read - almost too short, as I'd have loved a little more time with the characters - but it definitely makes good use of every available page.Disappointingly, the paperback edition fell apart during my reading.

Interesting use of graphics and panels to illustrate a tale from a dystopian future. The artwork was extremely high quality.

For point of reference, I came to We3 after devouring (excuse any pun)  CHEW Omnivore Edition Volume 1 HC , Locke & Key Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft HC  (all of them, but I'm not linking them all!),  The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1  and a number of other novels including Fable and  I Kill Giants .Whilst the subject matter of We3 is distinctly different to all of these, I was nevertheless pleasantly surprised (and at points overwhelmed) by the story and its excellent writing. Initially I found it hard to empathise with the "domestic" side of the characters given their bio-tech shells and text speak communication (which I abhor) but the skill of the writing and the style of the art lends itself to the overall story, and I found myself welling up at parts towards the end (you'll understand why).Part of the story - government-engineered killing machines only being stopped by more powerful government-engineered killers - left me reminiscent of  Elfen Lied - The Complete Collection [DVD ], though only in plot style, not with overwhelming violence and nakedness!My only criticism is of the binding itself, hence the product itself still gets 5 stars (unfair to mark it for what might be a one off fail!). The glue for the binding hadn't held, and the book fell away from the cover as soon as I picked it up. On this basis, and with the quality of such a rewarding story, I would recommend that you go for  We3 Deluxe  as the binding will be infinitely more likely to stand the test of time!

I'm very happy with my purchase from worldofbooksit. As a collector, I find the book is in perfect used conditions: the spine is intact, no defects on the cover and the pages, just minor signs of wear. And it was delivered well before the expected date!

WE3 - Touching, poignant, not-on-the-nose; non-preachy commentary on animal exploitation and human attitudes. The detailed, scraggly lines of Quitely suit both the animal illustrations, unique panel compositions and the epic, high octane action moments.

Without going into to many details, Grant Morrison's work is a great study of what "humanity" means, and the different perversions of this concept. The illustrations seem to go by the hand of the story, showing the brutality and tenderness necessary to exemplify the aformentioned theme, as well as creating an innovative way to perceive comic books.

I went and bought this graphic novel because it was recommended to me by a friend and decided to give it a try. The HC Deluxe edition is exquisite, the artwork is crisp and phenomenal. This is a short story of 3 animals, a Rabbit, a Dog and a Cat. We follow the life of Roseanne Berry who is an scientist who loves animal and somehow works in a Biotech-Robotic lab with those soldier of the future. After a bad review from The Man, things goes horribly wrong!Inspiring! a Graphic novel of few word but with a clear understandable and original story! Must read!

I really did not expect much of this book, but I have to say: i really like it. It has a solid, good story, very good drawings and strange but interesting characters. I would recommend this one to everyone who loves strange science fiction comics with a touch of movie style(s). Great buy!